Mask Making Mr. Hobbs Grade 9 Art

Intro About Masks  Have been used throughout the world in all periods since the Stone Age  Masks have been used for:  celebrations  funerals  initiations  crop harvesting  war preparation  plays  Whether used for work or play, protection or hiding your identity, a mask has many varied uses.

“Masks provide a survey of the creativity, diversity, and richness of the human imagination and our desire to represent our past, present, and future heroes, demons, dreams, fears, fantasies, and nightmares.” “Masks provide a survey of the creativity, diversity, and richness of the human imagination and our desire to represent our past, present, and future heroes, demons, dreams, fears, fantasies, and nightmares.”

Funeral Masks

Theatre Masks

Carnival Masks

Tribal Masks

For this project, you will create:  funeral mask  tribal mask  carnival mask  theatre mask  mask from a certain culture or place

Stage 1 - Research:  Research your theme or topic using the internet, books or magazines  Once you have your theme or idea, you are to fill out the handout about your theme/masks.

Stage 2 - Sketches  After creating your idea, you are to use your sketchbooks and sketch out at least three masks.  Use these masks and your own ideas to start creating your own…

Stage 3 – Full Colour Sketch  With a key idea in mind, you should now develop a full colour sketch of your own mask.  Feel free to ask others for advice or ways to enhance/improve your mask.

Stage 4 – Mask Construction  After your sketch has been developed, construction can now take place.  Create the core mask structure with plaster gauze.  Work in small groups building the form on each others’ face (see handout for more details…)

Stage 5 – Touch-Ups  Once your preliminary structure has been made, you can now add more pieces or found objects to the mask.  Refer back to your final sketch to figure out how you are going to arrive at a finished product.

Stage 6 - Painting  Before adding colour, use gesso to prime the masks.  Once they are bone dry, add acrylic colours in thin layers.  When the main colours are done, add detail and any found objects (feathers, twine, glitter, etc.) to finish your mask.

Websites to Visit  ns/middle/masks.htm ns/middle/masks.htm ns/middle/masks.htm